Featuring Anne Hathaway, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Rick Springfield, Huey Lewis, Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), Vanessa Bayer, Tim Robinson, Susanna Hoffs, Patton Oswalt, Martha Kelly, and more.
Watch The Postal Service’s Benjamin Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis (with assistance from Sub Pop’s own “Dave”*) hold Zoom auditions for band members in this hilarious longform PSA for HeadCount’s “Make Your Vote Count” campaign from director Tom Scharpling (who directed 2013’s The Postal Service Auditions).
The cast of Postal Service hopefuls features: Anne Hathaway, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Rick Springfield, Huey Lewis, Frank Schøttendt (aka Tim Robinson), Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), IRL Rosie, Vanessa Bayer, Susanna Hoffs, Patton Oswalt, Aparna Nancherla, Caroline Polachek, Michelle Zauner (of Japanese Breakfast), Tunde Adebimpe (of TV On The Radio), Ishmael Butler (of Shabazz Palaces), Denny Rock (aka Jon Wurster), Big Freedia, J Mascis, Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe, Walter Harris, and Ronnell Johnson, Kim Thayil, and Joe Wong.
*Please note: ”Dave” (aka Jon Daly, THE ACTOR) is not currently an employee of Sub Pop, has never been an employee of Sub Pop, and will never be an employee of Sub Pop (mostly because he won’t return our calls). Also many thanks to the wonderful actress Martha Kelly (and her cats) for her role as “Sheila, the HeadCount Representative”).
HeadCount has registered almost 400,000 voters for the 2020 election and ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. National Voter Registration Day 2020 was the most successful day in the history of the organization in terms of voters registered. This is the last week to register to vote in most states, and you can check your status and register to vote at https://www.headcount.org/make-your-vote-count/.
About HeadCount and the “Make Your Vote Count” campaign HeadCount is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes participation in democracy through music, culture, and digital media. The organization has registered over 350,000 voters for the 2020 election and worked with a long list of musicians and partners including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Dave Matthews Band, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, March for Our Lives, RuPaul’s DragCon, MTV, and Dead & Company. With 40,000 volunteers, street teams in most major U.S. cities, and presence at more than 1,000 events each year, HeadCount ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. Following COVID-19 restrictions, the organization quickly pivoted to an all-digital approach that led to innovation and online initiatives to fill the needs of the public in using their voices in democracy. For more information, visit HeadCount.org.
Loma has delivered an official video for “Elliptical Days,” a new track offering from their soon-to-be-released and highly anticipated album Don’t Shy Away. Band member Emily Cross dances and manipulates floodlights in the remote darkness of a rural Texas night, playing on the song’s lyrical themes of death and rebirth (“Light gathering/In the open spaces;” “Look at the difference you made/small as a star in the evening”) to deliver yet another arresting visual to the album’s uniquely lush and panoramic sound. “Elliptical Days” was directed and edited by Cross and fellow Loman Dan Duszynski in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Of the song, Cross had this to offer: “‘Elliptical Days’ was one of those songs that was pretty well fleshed out by Dan and Jonathan by the time I heard it. I loved how different it sounded from what we usually make together, but it was somehow still in the Loma realm—and the horn arrangement made it really special for me. Her bandmate Jonathan Meiburg concurs: “The horn session for Don’t Shy Away was one of the most exciting moments in making the record. They drove out to the studio one evening and blew their hearts out for three hours, without hearing any of the songs beforehand. I think they left feeling a bit confused about what kind of record this was, but they were really good sports about it.”
Duszynski adds: “I started ‘Elliptical Days’ as a sketch in Ableton- an exercise to learn the software and dig through some synth sounds. Jonathan heard me messing with it and walked into the control room asking, “Can we use this?” The song really came to life as he and our good friend (and touring Loman) Emily Lee started overdubbing piano and koto parts—and as usual, our collaboration transcended what any of us could do alone.”
Don’t Shy Away will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL October 23rd, 2020 worldwide through Sub Pop.
Today, Japanese quartet CHAI are thrilled to announce their signing to Sub Pop. In celebration, they announce a new digital single and official video for “Donuts Mind If I Do” which is available digitally today.
“Donuts Mind If I Do” is lush with layered vocals and dreamy, laidback instrumentation. The track is mellow until the twins’ voices join together and its synth swells as they proclaim “Keep going on!” CHAI says: “When you’re feeling vigorous, when you’re feeling sick, You like what you like! No changing that! Even if what I like is as simple as a donut <3. It’s this type of song!”
The accompanying video, directed by Hideto Hotta, shows CHAI sitting on a grassy hill, enjoying colorful donuts. Later, they appear as older versions of themselves. “In order for various concepts of society, societal structures to have been built up and exist today, there had to be changes to those concepts, to those structures in every era to continue to lead to the next society…with that said, in this music video we explore the CHAI you know today, and then CHAI as elderly women,” explains Hotta. “On an all-white table cloth, eating donuts, sits CHAI. They can even sip on the tea in the teapot if they’d like! Ultimately time passes, and the elderly CHAI is still there, enjoying their last supper in the middle of the meadow, white-table cloth and all eating their donuts. CHAI changes physically, but one thing that does stand still is them living in their truth. If finding true happiness is one of the goals the human race is constantly in search of, then conveying this in this visual, spreading what happiness means to CHAI, to me, is something I feel is important in us living in our truths.”
The song is from CHAI’s forthcoming “Donuts Mind If I Do” b/w “Plastic Love” double A-side single. The second track, “Plastic Love,” will be available on all DSPs from Sub Pop on November 6th.
Both songs will also be released together as a limited edition 7”, which is available to pre-order now from Bandcamp (on either orange or turquoise colored vinyl), and Sub Pop Mega Mart (on lime green vinyl). All three options will be available while supplies last. The “Donuts Mind If I Do” b/w “Plastic Love” 7” single will be available worldwide from Sub Pop (excl. Japan and Asia) with an estimated ship date in late November.
[Photo Credit: Kodai Ikemitsu]
CHAI is a revolutionary four-piece, made up of miracle twins Mana and Kana, and the impeccable rhythm section of Yuuki and Yuna. Combining their powerhouse musical prowess with “pinkish punk” sensibilities, CHAI has managed to create a huge splash in the music scene in their homeland, Japan, and abroad. Now ready to build on their infectious sound and musical accolades, CHAI is gearing up with their new label to release even more new music into the world.
PRAISE FOR CHAI AND PUNK
“PUNK leans hard into CHAI’s gift for spiky, wiry aggression, but the group never abandons its sense of playfulness and light” - NPR Music
“terrifically over the top.” - Pitchfork, Best New Music
“Their songs shapeshift, ping-ponging from one idea to the next with dizzying speed, leaving you no choice but to hang on for dear life and go along for the ride.”- Stereogum, Album Of The Week
“they’re determined to redefine your idea of ‘kawaii,’ and, in the process, there’s no way you won’t become addicted.” - Nylon
“PUNK is a huge step forward for CHAI, and easily one of the best albums of the year.” - Exclaim!
“Packed with gum-snapping cheerleader attitude and space disco grooves, it’s a potent distillation of serotonin that offers countless surprises across its thirty-minute runtime.” - The FADER
“Bursting with fun, expanded musicianship, and boundless energy, this is one sophomore record that couldn’t exist more in the now.” - The 405
On Friday, October 2nd, Sub Pop artists past and present – new signees CHAI, The Gotobeds (w/ Chicago’s Daddy’s Boy), Loma, METZ, The Postal Service, Chad VanGaalen, and Wolf Parade – will be offering a variety of new and unreleased material, special sales and deals through Bandcamp’s “No Revenue Share Day” aka #BandcampFriday.
CHAI’s “Donuts Mind If I Do” is a new song and the band’s label debut, available digitally now from Sub Pop. “Donuts…” will also be available on the group’s forthcoming “Donuts Mind If I Do” b/w “Plastic Love” 7” single out this November. This limited edition 7” is available to pre-order in two color options through Bandcamp – on either orange or turquoise colored vinyl.
$2 for both tracks, $1 per track (digitally).
$8 for the 7” single (physical + while supplies last).
Est. ship date for the 7” single is late November.
The Gotobeds “Sunny Youth” / Daddy’s Boy “Family Cat” is a split digital single with proceeds going to Prison Neighborhood Arts Project. “Sunny Youth” was recorded during sessions for The Gotobeds’ Blood // Sugar // Secs // Traffic, their Sub Pop debut, while Daddy’s Boy’s “Family Cat” was recorded earlier this year at Electrical Audio in Chicago by Steve Albini. Both tracks are previously unreleased.
$1 per track.
Kiwi. Jr’s “Undecided Voters” is the just-released, darkly comic and prescient single from the Toronto-based, newly signed Sub Pop band.
$1 per track.
Loma’s self-released “Wheal Owles,” is a long, loose, haunting, and very human 15-minute instrumental. Emily Cross on clarinet, Jonathan Meiburg on guitar, Dan Duszyniski on drums.
$5 for the track.
METZ’s entire digital discography, including the digital pre-order for Atlas Vending, their forthcoming album out October 9th, 2020 on Sub Pop, is available for sale at 35% off (or $39.65 in total).
Digital discography sale begins Friday and ends Thursday, October 8th.
Chad VanGaalen’s Lost Harmonies is a b-sides compilation of songs that were intended to be part of a synth-focused record called Lost Harmony. VanGaalen says of the project, “They were all improvised live and recorded them — quick and dirty. I was always critical of the way my voice still sounded like my normal voice, and the album got shelved. Eventually I returned to it and tried manipulating the sounds using pitch-shifting and changing tape speeds. I finally felt like it was cool to drool, and it evolved into Lost Harmonies. These are the kind of songs I make to entertain myself late at night.”
Pay what you want for the compilation on Friday, $1 per track after.
Available now on all DSPs worldwide through Sub Pop, and from Kiwi Club Records in Canada. Sub Pop has signed the Toronto, Ontario-based Kiwi Jr. to a worldwide deal and will release the band’s full-length label debut in 2021. Ahead of that release is “Undecided Voters,” Kiwi Jr.’s darkly comic new single and official video, which is available today on all DSPs worldwide through Sub Pop, and in Canada through the band’s Kiwi Club imprint.
Shot live on location at a candidates debate between two horse jockeys in a church basement, the “Undecided Voters” video plays with the absurdity of elections as sport and entertainment. Kiwi Jr. provides the soundtrack to the sordid affair, while local news reporters stalk the perimeter trying to piece together the scene inside.
Kiwi Jr. had this to offer on the single: “We all know UNDECIDED VOTERS: democracy’s driftwood, the third planks in the flotsam that purple the pie chart, always on sight and never a part of the scene. Placing imminent demise neatly to one side, KIWI JR. concentrate on the real Issues: the terrible alliance between King Crab and the timezones; 3D printing causing mass sculptor redundancies; and the playlist at the Duane Reade. After all, who is it we’re really voting for: Spartacus or the dead?”
Sub Pop first became acquainted with Kiwi Jr.’s music via the band’s debut, Football Money. The album, which was released in 2019 from the Canadian label Mint Records and eventually internationally in January 2020 through Persona Non Grata/Kiwi Club, was released to unanimous international praise.
Kiwi Jr. is Jeremy Gaudet (mic, guitar), Brohan Moore (drums), Mike Walker (bass), and Brian Murphy (guitar).
What “The People” have said about Kiwi Jr.’s Football Money: “With easy hooks, surprise structural twists, and a gift for non-sequiturs, the Canadian quartet’s debut is a vivid portrait of the big-city struggle…Gaudet has such a witty way with one-liners, and the band is so effervescent in their execution, that it’s easy to overlook the elevated level of craft at work.” - Pitchfork
“Packs a melodic punch — one that, echoing its most infectious track, will you leave you chanting ‘gimme more gimme more more more’.” - UNCUT
“There’s no sense in resisting the playful jangle of Kiwi Jr.” – NPR Music
